This week we are looking into the historical and contemporary issues related to African American politics including historical barriers, systematic opposition, efforts to gain power, representation in the American political system, and the role of the 2008 and 2012 elections for blacks around the country (and people of color around the world). Although we will have another class specifically devoted to race and electoral politics, I would like you to specifically focus on the election of Obama for African Americans.
You should browse this report from the Pew Research Center about the 2008 election voter turnout and how it has become continually more diverse over the past 20 years.
Also if you are interested here are the detailed exit polls from 2012, 2008, and 2004 if you would like to compare turnout by various groups, and an interesting snapshot of party identification of African Americans over time.
Take a look at this brief article about support for Obama by African Americans leading up tot the 2012 election.
Also you may want to explore thegrio.com a site organized around the African American perspective including many interesting articles and videos on American politics and president Obama.
Then I would like to discuss issues related to any the following questions: Has the Obama presidency affected African Americans in real or symbolic ways? Has the election affected Whites view of African Americans? Does the election of Obama affect all non-White racial and ethnic groups in similar ways? Will race play a large role in future presidential election?
With the Obama presidency, I do believe that voter turnout has indeed changed over the past 20 or so years. As shown with the bar graph link, we have had predominantly white voter percentage. Even though that is still prevalent, more voters of different ethnicities have turned out to the polls. In 2008 the leading ethnic and racial background, not including white/caucasian, was African Americans with 12.1 %, followed by 7.4% Hispanic and 2.5% Asian. Comparatively, that's only doubled most of those amounts from 1988. Not to discredit the meaning of the election itself, but that data has been on a linear climb since 1988.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I do believe that the Obama presidency has affected African Americans in some ways such as getting more politically active and seeing something wrong with one party and liking the ideals of another. The election has also affected views of White Americans on African Americans, however those views are either one way or the other and sometimes zig-zagging between the two sides taking views from one another. With the election of a Obama, this no doubt affects the sense of political activeness within all races and ethnic backgrounds in the country. I like to think back in elementary school that my teacher would tell us anyone of us could become the president and seeing someone who isn't caucasian on the picture frame of presidents re-affirms that statement. I do believe that race will play a role in future presidential elections, my hope however is that people vote for someone who has good ideas and plans to act on them and not because of the color of their skin.
I think the Obama presidency has affected African Americans in a symbolic way, but not in a real way. Although the Pew Research Center says African Americans voter turnout in 2008 was up almost 5% from 2004, Obama’s election to office has not changed African American’s lives in a substantial way. Instead Obama’s presidency as the country’s first African American has brought hope and has served as inspiration. Not only to African Americans but to other racial groups. To me for example, I see beyond Obama’s race and I see him as the son of a poor immigrant, one who has worked hard to rise above statics to take on the nation’s most powerful position.
ReplyDeleteIt is a little naive to say that race will not play a role in future presidential elections, but I do think that the importance of race will be diminished compared to the 2008 and 2012 elections.
-Jasmine Tena
I totally agree with you. As the research shows, the African American voter turn out did rise between the 2004 election and the 2008 election, but I don't necessarily think that it has affected African Americans in any real way. For me, growing up in a community where the majority is African American, I saw how people reacted to Obama running for president. They saw this as a major milestone in American politics and they also saw this as a major milestone for the African American race. Like you said Jasmine, I view Obama as a man who came from a poor family and as someone who has worked very hard to break racial and ethnic stereotypes. I look beyond race to the fact that this man has worked very hard to get to where he is today and that is a major achievement for anyone; regardless of their race/ethnicity.
Delete-Katelyn Schweitzer
Obama’s presidency has affected the African American population in a symbolic way in my opinion. As Jasmine stated Obama has brought “hope and inspiration” to the African American population and encouraging them brighter futures. I think Obama has helped slightly in their political active. According to the Pew their voting population has increased since 2004, but I feel the African American population still isn’t economically and politically active as they could be. I found it fascinating looking at the Pew Research. Although whites are the highest voters in America, the population voters slightly decrease over time, African American, Hispanic, and Asian has increase every 4 years. This just shows the increase of varieties of cultures participating in American politics. I believe over the next couple of decades these numbers will continue to increase and we will see more political figures with various races and ethnic backgrounds.
ReplyDeleteSami Wiley^^^
ReplyDeleteI am not a political expert and I am not going to try to be, so I honestly do not know what Obama has or hasn't done for African Americans specifically. So to say that Obama has only affected them in a symbolic way would be me just not being aware of what has really gone on. But, from what I do know, Obama's presidency is/was very symbolic for African Americans.
ReplyDeleteI remember when Obama won in 2008 during my first semester of high school. The next day my school was CRAZY- I mean there were actual mobs of people jumping around and cheering and screaming and so on and so forth. Being that my high school was/is predominantly African American, and based on the months leading up to the election(Obama shirts and pins and etc), I was expecting school to be that way. But I had wondered whether or not they knew what Obama being president meant. I had no idea (my ignorance about politics is actually embarrassing) and I figured that I wasn't the only one who didn't know what it meant. One of my fellow classmates told me that he wasn't quite sure, but that having a black president was what mattered. I mention this up because it is proof that Obama becoming president was symbolic for African Americans. Voter turnout increased, and like mentioned in the NYT article about black support for Obama, Mr. Malik had never voted before the 2008 election. I am not sure if Obama's presidency has affected other non-White racial and ethnic groups in the exact same way, but based on the demographics of voters from 2004 to 2008, I think it had a similar effect.
I don't think that it's safe to generalize how one group, as large as the Black American population, has been affected by the Obama presidency. I think many of us have been left unaffected by his presidency, while many of us have been affected in symbolic ways and others of us have been affected in real ways. From what I've seen, I think that most Black Americans have been affected "symbolically" by Obama's presidency. The idea of a Black president brought hope of changing times to many. In "real" ways, I believe that Obama's presidency encouraged more young Black people to get involved in politics. I'm not too familiar with politics, but I think that Obama wants tangible change for Black Americans who are still oppressed in our country. There's just so many barriers keeping him from doing what he wants to do, and he seems to compromise too easily when he should be standing for causes that support Black Americans.
ReplyDeleteObama's presidency doesn't even affect all Black people in the same way, so of course it affects people of different racial/ethnic groups differently. I think that the election affected some White people's view of Black Americans. Some White people really hold negative stereotypes of Black people, especially if they don't know any. So for them to see a Black man as president, it might have changed their view of Black people's potential. Race plays a major role in all institutional functions of our country, so I believe that it will play an important role in future elections for a long time to come. Politicians will still be trying to get the "Black vote" or the "Latino Vote." Many people don't like Obama because he is Black, and many people only like him because he is Black. So a person's race/ethnicity matters to many people when they're deciding whether or not to vote for them.
-Danielle Russell
I agree with what others have said so far, especially what Jasmine said about it being more a symbolic, than literal way. It's a perfect image of the American dream: that if you work hard enough, you can be anything, no matter "who" or "what" you are. At the same time, (and perhaps, this sounds like I am minimizing this historic event) this is only one small step in the scheme of hundreds of years of systemically embedded ideas of race. Obama's election matters, but it only really matters when the playing field is leveled on a more consistent basis, in terms of race, class and gender as well. Additionally, calling Obama "black", goes back to those historic ideas that one drop makes you black, or more generally, non-white. The language of race is still a little bit manipulative.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that this election affects anybody all in the same way, racially, socio-economically, etc, etc, but I think it starts the crack in the "glass ceiling" (to borrow a gender-studies term), to continue to keep these issues at the forefront of the discussion. I think the most important and significant changes will come with the composition of Congress is more representative of the American population.
-Lilly McNicholas
I definitely agree with all of the above comments that Obama is a symbol of hope and accomplishment for many minority voters, especially those who are African American. I think it affects other minority voters because all minorities are kind of thrown into the same category of being different, not white, a minority.
ReplyDeleteAs from the McIntosh article (“White Privilege”), I think many prominent minority political leaders, and definitely Obama, are looked at to represent all of the black or African American community. This has affected his politics, I think, because people think he is pursuing a policy because he is African American. His race has also played an important role in his campaign and relationship with the public. Race already plays such a large role presidential elections and I predict it will continue to be a way of gaining voters.
-Catherine Adams
In my opinion, Obama election impacted African Americans in a figurative matter rather than a real way. Back in 2008 when Obama became president he became the first black president and this represented hope and new opportunities. The fact that he was the first out of the 43 presidents of the United States is very symbolic. Looking at the pew research the numbers are not mind blowing and clearly you expect the number for non-white voters to be higher especially the African American community because Obama was on the verge to become the first black president. Barack Obama becoming president definitely change White Americans view of African Americans because this makes them aware of their surroundings and become more open minded. This does affect the non-white ethnic groups because this shows no matter what race or ethnicity you are you have a chance in this country. No I don’t think race will play a huge role in future presidential election because in 10-20 years our country will become more diverse than it already is. Even now it is diverse and newer generations are always more open minded than the last so I think race won’t be an issue in the future.
ReplyDeleteStarting off with what Katie and Jasmine responded with, I strongly agree that no matter what race or ethnicity a person may be, if one is gifted and hard working, they are going to do a good job. Obama is definitely all of the above. Also as Katie mentioned, the African American vote turn outs rose in the 2000s. There is no surprise that they were "representing their own kind" in a way. For once, a black man became president of the United States, even with whites voting. This presidential election was basically a 360 from anything America has been used to. So yes, Obama's presidency as most definitely affected African Americans in a symbolic way. In a way, his presidency is proving what America did not think African Americans were capable of, and for that, it is great. As far as "real" affection, I think it is nonexistent. The majority of African American neighborhoods, even here in Chicago, are slums. By no means are the substantial. My freshman LSP class specified on Sustainability in Chicago. We visited many green houses and plantations, etc. throughout the city of Chicago. We even visited the south, specifically Englewood. It was a shame to see how they live. For these reasons I think there is a part of failure in his presidency. All together, just as with any president's term, there are major pros and cons. There are "he should've done this", "He shouldn't have done this", however, it is we, the people who need to come together and make a difference in our choices no matter the race or ethnicity, but the skill and strength of an individual.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, Obama’s presidency was more an inspiration for African Americans rather than giving any actual real affects. Obama has made U.S. history by being the first black president. But to be honest, no change has been made. I feel that as a country we focused more on making changes by erasing the thought and problem of racism that we forgot the major problems that are happening in this country. I don’t think that race from now on will play a large role in future elections. It was just a one hype that went on. Black or white, does not matter. What matters is what a person can truly provide for our country.
ReplyDeleteAfrican Americans have had a harder time than white people by being accepted in America. By knowing there is a black man in office running for president, it gave this country a hype of excitement that changes are about to happen. Yes there was change by having the first African American president, but changes themselves were not made or considered seriously as they should. This country had focused so much of portraying an image of freedom and equality. We focus more on the looks and materialistic perspective, rather than the actual material of what should be done to erase problems. It does not matter if there is a white or black president, what matters is what that person can provide our country. I feel his first term was won for who he is and not focused on what he can bring for this country. The image of being treated equally by ‘color’ overpowered the actual realistic things that will help our country. It is what we can provide not what we see. Actions speak louder than words. Color, is just a word there is no physicality to it. It’s not how we look on the outside that should determine a person, but what is on the inside.
The election of Obama I feel has definitely affected the African American population. Looking at the statistics from 2004 to 2008 an increasing number of African Americans decided to vote and more specifically 95% of them voted for Obama. This goes back to the idea that we talked about in class how a certain group of people move to a segregated neighborhood where they feel more welcome and represented. Also in this case African Americans vote for a candidate which they feel more represented. This also was our first African American president which symbolically was a big step forward affecting all non white racial groups.
ReplyDeleteHowever I feel and have actually personally experienced my friends and people I know voting for Barack Obama just because of his race and not what he stands for. I feel people got really excited at the idea of a non white president and voted for him more for his racial background. This specifically is not a bad thing in my opinion but not a good one either.
Angela Kopec
I agree with what everyone has said thus far especially Katie. I feel that Obama's hard work and dedication that got him to where he is now as president is overshadowed by the fact that he is the first African American President. One thing I will say is that his presidency has definitely led to an increase not only voting not only by African American but of all racial/ethnic groups in America as shown in the data. However, I feel like Obama's presidency has also led to a drastically different perception of African Americans based on how people of other racial groups view how president Obama is doing during his term. For example, my mother, who is not racist by any means, believes that President Obama is doing a terrible job as president, and I have seen her view of African Americans turn a little more bitter then before he was elected president. Lastly, I feel that race will play a huge part in the next election, especially because immigration policies have been a huge debate as of recently and because Obama was elected president it "opened" a door for other people in different racial/ethnic groups to run for presidency.
ReplyDelete-Tyler Betancourt
Based off the resources given, I believe Obamas presidency has affected African Americans in a real way. The Pew Research article, "Dissecting the 2008 Electorate: Most Diverse in U.S. History" states that the 2008 election was the most "racially and ethnically diverse in U.S. history". This was due to the that more non whites were voting. This of course has affected African Americans positively because now they had an inventive to vote. Now under represented classes see that their vote can do something, it is more likely that they will continue to vote in the future and this will help increase the numbers even more. This is the same with Hispanic and Asian voters because the number of them that voted in 2008 also increased. I feel like because there will be an increase in the diversity of voters, it will cause future candidates to consider their issues when running for office. Whether they do something about those issues in the end is a different matter, but just having them in their heads is a good start. Also based on the things mentioned in the new York times article " Black Voters Support for Obama is Steady and Strong" I believe it will encourage other non white candidates to consider running for office in the future. Also again as I mentioned it will force others to consider the view points of other races in the future elections.
ReplyDelete-Daniel Hernandez
I think that Obama's election was both a symbolic and real event for African Americans and all minorities. Obama will forever be known as the first minority to hold that title making him a symbol of change not just for the African American community but for all racial groups. The symbol then caused a real affect when it inspired and put a fire under many different minorities to vote because where as before people didn’t think their vote mattered, this monumental change put a different spin on things.
ReplyDeleteThe election definitely changed the way white politicians ran their election campaigns. In the last few years I have seen more politicians trekking to racially diverse neighborhoods in an attempt to gain more of the minority vote because they know more of them are voting. Like religion I wish race would cease to be a key player in future elections and politics as a whole but I highly doubt either is going anywhere anytime soon.